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Open data at the local scale is even more of a mess than at the national level, but while there are increasing efforts to improve things nationally, cities, towns, counties, and even states are being left behind. These smaller entities don't have the resources to implement APIs for their data, and community tech groups and developers who want to use this data constantly hit walls — from fragmented, non-uniform data to finding API hosting and maintenance. But what if we could throw all that data in a box that’s easy to open, close, and move around — bypassing traditional solutions requiring infrastructure for hosting and maintenance. Enter Docker and ElasticSearch, and a simple three-layer API-in-a-box solution that any developer can immediately turn on with docker-compose up. Help us caption & translate this video! http://amara.org/v/HKp6/
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In the presentation "API in a Box", Shelby Switzer discusses the challenges of managing and utilizing local open data, particularly for smaller entities like cities and towns that lack resources. Switzer emphasizes the importance of addressing issues related to 'small data', particularly for civic hacking initiatives. Key points include: - **Civic Hacking Importance**: Switzer highlights her involvement with Code for America brigades, showcasing how local data can empower communities to solve pressing issues, illustrated by the project "Show Me the Food", which aimed to identify food deserts in Atlanta. - **Data Challenges**: When working with government data, issues such as fragmented formats, duplicates, and lack of standardization create significant hurdles. For example, during the "Show Me the Food" project, two CSV files containing business data from different sources presented compatibility challenges. - **Key Needs Identified**: Switzer outlines five needs for effective data management in civic hacking: - Easy and free data storage and maintenance - Unchanging data safeguarding - A flexible and robust API for data interaction - The ability to search non-standardized data and - Avoid hosting costs for non-profit initiatives. - **Implementing Solutions**: The initial step involved using GitHub to store open data. Subsequently, Elasticsearch was chosen as a schema-less document store to interact with this data efficiently, allowing for powerful search capabilities. - **API Creation**: A Sinatra API was set up over Elasticsearch to facilitate user interaction, this API included metadata for clear understanding and provided a user-friendly format using Collection JSON, enabling simplified queries without needing original data knowledge. - **Docker Utilization**: To ensure portability and ease of use, Docker containers encapsulate all functionality, allowing users to run the project with minimal setup. The process is streamlined using Docker Compose for easy deployment. In conclusion, Switzer encourages developers to leverage these tools to maintain open data accessibility within their communities, emphasizing the collaborative potential of this setup without reliance on external hosting. The project reflects a model where data-driven civic initiatives can thrive through community engagement and technological simplicity. She invites others to participate in similar projects and contribute to local problem-solving efforts.
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